In the Debt of a Thief
by Yukaido
Summary: Javert finds himself staring into the cold, black waters of the Seine. But he realizes he doesn't want to jump because of debt...but of something much more. And for that exact reason, he can't. Yes, a ValjeanXJavert slash. My first yaoi.


**My first slash pairing and fiction. If my younger self could only have seen me now...**

**_Warning_: If slash is not your cup of tea, please turn back now! **

At last Valjean had been in his grasp. The escaped convict, 24601, 9430, prisoner Jean Valjean, had finally come stumbling into his hold. All it would have taken was to reach out, disregarding the unconscious boy Valjean carried on his back, and clasp the iron handcuffs around his unguarded hands. All it would have taken him was a mere few steps, a natural, practiced flick of the wrist, and a forceful shove, and he could have herded Valjean back to police headquarters and back to the prison's hands. Twenty long years he had searched for this elusive convict, who had changed his name thrice times in his attempts to evade him. So why had he let this man go?

"That Marius boy was severely injured and I had not the strength to carry the boy to a hospital. Valjean was the only man who could. I have no right to take away a man's life," Inspector Javert assured himself. There was a perfectly clear and completely understandable reason for his action. He had not gone against the law; he had upheld it by allowing the means with which to save the young man's life. The Marius boy had been his only reason to allow Valjean to go free. But Javert knew that this was a lie, only to fool himself.

Valjean had promised to return in one hour's time to the exact spot where they had crossed paths, to the awaiting clutches of Javert's irons. Valjean had only begged Javert give him one hour to get Marius to a hospital. And Javert had allotted him his hour.

"He will be here in one hour's time. Then I will finally have him," Javert repeated to himself. Wait. Was he actually _relying_ on the word of this man? Of a convict?! He, the good Inspector, who was sworn to that and nothing else but upholding the law?

"Damn!" Javert cursed aloud. Still he waited. Fifteen minutes went by. He did not move an inch. Twenty minutes. Twenty five. Each second feeling like an eternity. Thirty. Forty…

"Sorry Valjean. This is one promise to you I cannot uphold."

For his promise to wait the one hour he could no longer stand.

Without any conscious thought behind his unsteady footsteps, Javert found himself gazing into the swirling waters of the Seine. So rash, so unyielding the waves slammed against each other in the darkness of the waters. Javert looked to the stars for reassurance from his irrational, jumbled thoughts, only to see the sky was pitch black, the stars no longer shining, no longer casting their soft, white glow. No longer casting meaning. Javert once again turned his gaze back to the Seine, his eyes full of conflicted feelings and emotions.

"Damned if I'll live in the debt of a thief! I am the law, and the law is not mocked!"

But immediately after spitting these words out, he stopped. For Javert knew that too, these words were a lie. He had not allowed Valjean to go because he had saved Javert's own life at the barricade. It was not because of pity or debt. It was something, which Javert had at last come to reconcile with…

And this was now what was going to make him jump. Slowly, with no rush and no feeling, Javert climbed up onto the edge of the bridge. He steadily rose from his knees, until he was standing, staring at the awaiting waters of the Seine. Almost peacefully, he set down his hat and nightstick on the edge of the bridge, stood again, and closed his eyes against his awaiting fate. Javert solemnly extended his right foot out before him, holding it above the waters below as if simply taking a step forward. But then, he found he could go no further.

"Get on with it! Go!" a voice in the back of his head urged. "You have sinned. You have broken the law, and in doing so, have gone against everything you've ever stood for in your life. Your life holds no meaning now!"

Javert knew he should. He deserved nothing less. But his left foot removed to budge from where it now stood rooted.

"I-I can't."

Tears of frustration, tears of anguish, tears that Javert had never once spilt in his entire life, now slipped down his cheeks and down onto his uniform.

"I can't. I _have_ broken the law. I _have_ sinned. And yet, for that exact reason, I cannot do it!"

For the reason he had broken the law, had let Valjean go free, was because he loved him. Truly and irrevocably loved the man he had hounded for twenty years of his life. He knew not when he had fallen for the convict, and neither did he know when he had finally admitted to himself that he loved 24601...no…Jean Valjean. For in admitting this emotion he felt, he had committed another sin, both against himself, Javert, and against God. His love had made it impossible for Javert to bear his duty and bring Valjean back into custody, and he had sinned against God by loving another man. But no longer could he deny his feelings for the other man, for he knew them to be true.

Once again, Javert turned his face up to the dark, merciless sky, and at last the tears fell freely down the anguished inspector's face. He screamed.

"Damn it, I love you Valjean! I can't do it, even though I know I deserve nothing more! I'm too selfish to allow death to take you away from me!"

"Wh-what?"

Javert froze. In terror, he found himself turning to gaze into the startled eyes of Jean Valjean.

"What did you just say, Javert?"

Javert couldn't respond. He was too terrified even to move. His arms and legs had gone numb from the shock; he could no longer feel anything. Only the painful thumping of his agonizing heart and the sting of the embarrassing tears that continued to streak down his face. How could Valjean be here? Why was he here?! Why at the moment where he had finally confessed his most heinous sin to the Lord above?!

But then, in a sudden jolt of feeling, Javert realized something had gone terribly wrong. A foot slipping out from underneath him. His body careening backwards. The air whooshing past him as he plunged towards the depths of the Seine. The last thing Javert remembered hearing before the roaring torrent of the waters engulfed him was Valjean crying out his name in despair.

"No! I don't want this!" Javert's mind screamed as the icy waters of the river swirled around him, forcing his body further and further away from the surface. He fought against the current with all the strength he could muster, lashing out with his arms and legs, but in vain, for despite his hardest efforts he was unable to force his way back up. Slowly, he felt his air escaping him and the black spots of unconsciousness ebbing into the edges of his mind.

"So I guess I get to die anyways," Javert thought dismally, but with a begrudging sense of acceptance. It was better this way. But before the darkness could fully overcome him, Javert thought he felt a strong pair of arms wrapping around him, but through all his incoherency, he couldn't tell.

An intense white light was shining on the inside of his eyelids. He cringed, squeezing his eyes tight against it.

"Am I dead?" he wondered.

"Javert! Javert, can you hear me? God, Javert, don't die on me, I tell you! Don't you dare die! Javert!"

Valjean?

Slowly, unsurely, Javert opened his eyes to see Valjean staring at his face intently, his shining eyes betraying that he was close to hysterics.

"Javert! Thank the Lord!" Valjean covered his face with one hand to try to suppress the torrent of emotions that surged into him upon seeing Javert's eyes open, showing he was alive after all.

Javert couldn't comprehend this. Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Almost instantly, an intense coughing fit overcame him, forcing him upward as he coughed up the water that had made its way into his lungs. So obviously dead was not a possibility. Javert looked around him. He was sitting near the edge of the Seine, near calmer waters a little ways from the bridge. Both his and Valjean's clothes were soaked to the bone. Had Valjean jumped into the river to save him?

Javert stared incredulously at the man sitting in front of him. No more than a few minutes ago, he had been confessing aloud his love for the escaped ex-convict. So how was it now that Valjean would be kneeled before him, water dripping from his hair and clothing the same as him? When had he arrived at the bridge? Javert himself had gotten to the bridge only five minutes before Valjean's allotted hour was up. How in the world had he found Javert in time to save his life _again_?

Javert quickly felt the cold and emotionless mask playing across his face once more.

"24601? What are you doing here?!" he snapped.

It took a moment for Valjean to respond, as he was still gazing at Javert in uncertainty and…fear?

"What else did you expect of me, Javert?" he asked in a quiet, resigned voice. "I wasn't going to just sit by and watch you…"

He abruptly cut off his sentence, and Javert thought he actually saw him shudder indistinctly. Javert sighed in frustration, not allowing for a moment for his long perfected mask, that mask which conserved his last ounce of dignity, to crumble in the face of the embarrassment of his exclamation at the bridge. But subconsciously as it might have been, Javert's next words might as well have contradicted his efforts completely.

"I don't understand you at all, Valjean. The past twenty years I've chased after you, re-captured you twice and threw you back in prison, tried to take your daughter away from you, spied on the rebel group that Marius, your daughter's love, joined and came close to spilling all their secrets to the other side...Why me, of all people, would you risk your life to save?"

Valjean stared wide-eyed at the oblivious Inspector, lost for words at the meaning he had found behind what the inspector had just said. He had called him, Valjean. Not 24601, the name Valjean had come to instinctively respond to whenever it concerned Inspector Javert. Javert had never addressed him by anything else but those cursed five numbers that served to Valjean a painful reminder of who he once was. Valjean was speechless. Once more, Javert's temper got the better of him.

"What are you gawking at, Valjean?!" he yelled, clearly annoyed at Valjean's continual stare. Valjean was about to open his mouth to point out his unusual behavior in addressing him, but stopped and thought better of it. There was a more pressing question he had to ask.

"Javert...before I say anything, you must answer me this!" Valjean exclaimed, desperation heavy in his voice as he seized Javert's collar. "Why were you…w-why did you try…? I can't understand, you were trying to…k...kill…"

No matter how hard he tried, Valjean could not force out those words that terrified him so thoroughly, the thought terrifying him more than anything else ever had in his entire life. Not even being buried alive or the fear of Cosette being taken away from him or Marius when he had been injured at the barricade could compare to the terror he now felt. Javert sighed again, but this time Valjean thought he detected a faint hint of amusement in the sound.

"Kill myself?" Javert put it so bluntly, so easily, Valjean cringed. "Valjean, what do you mean?" But all at once, all traces of amusement Javert felt immediately dissipated when he realized Valjean's face looked damper, as if the water wasn't from the Seine, but from...tears. But Valjean couldn't be crying for him, could he?

But quickly, Javert realized he was. The wave of guilt that washed over him was overwhelming.

"Good Lord, Valjean, what are you getting so worked up about?" Javert asked incredulously, on the inside feeling as if his heart was tearing in two. Valjean had long since let go of Javert's collar and now sat, befuddled, his face tilted slightly downwards. Javert's next sentence, he knew, was going to break his pride and probably humiliate him for the rest of his dismal life, but he couldn't bear to watch Valjean shed tears.

"Honestly, Valjean, I was never expecting you to come up behind me like that. With all the shock...I slipped."

Yes, that was definitely going to haunt him for the rest of eternity.

"But why were you up there in the first place?!" Valjean demanded. "You said you were going to wait by the sewers so you could take me back to prison! But I find you on the edge of a bridge, gazing down into the depths of the Seine! Please, Javert, just tell me…" He begged quietly.

"…was it because of me?"

Javert had no doubt that Valjean believed his original answer, but he also recognized Valjean had seen right through him. He couldn't hide it now.

"Yes, Valjean," he confirmed. "It was because you. I told myself it was because my life held no meaning, that in letting you go free, I had not only defied the law but gone against everything that I was. But those were all lies. But really, the reason I wanted to jump was also the reason I couldn't." Javert smiled sadly, and then stood up, turning his face away as to not look Valjean in the eyes.

"But, well, you've already heard the rest."

Valjean hadn't believed his ears on the bridge. Surely, he had misheard Javert? He hadn't wanted to believe those words, hadn't wanted to even think he heard what he did, but here it was, a confirmation of their truth from none other than Javert himself. Valjean hadn't even wanted to imagine the possibility laden in them-hadn't wanted to put trust in them-for they had been too good to be true.

But suddenly, with a start, Valjean realized that during his reverie Javert had slowly began to walk away. Javert didn't even glance back.

"Do not worry, Valjean. I promise to never enter your life again," Javert swore, all the while fighting back more suppressed tears. "I will make sure you never see me again."

For how could a convict ever love the officer who represented the law, who represented a lifetime in the hell that is prison?

So, thinking this, Javert had no warning whatsoever when Valjean clapped a strong hand on his shoulder and managed to turn Javert halfway around to face him again.

"Javert, you have not even allowed me to answer your question," Valjean said, feigning displeasure to hide the growing warmth and joy that was spreading through him.

"Question? What are you talking about, Valje-"

And then Javert felt his words cut off by Valjean's mouth on his. Javert's eyes grew twice their normal size in disbelief, but soon found his eyes closing, his whole body becoming limp in ecstasy. It was the best feeling he had ever experienced. Valjean's lips were slowly moving against his, sending irrepressible jolts of pleasure down his arms and back. At least, it started off that way. But soon, Javert's lips because more urgent and forceful, all the pent up emotions that had been building up inside him finally being set free. Valjean wasn't complaining. A minute later, they separated, breathing slightly heavier than usual.

Valjean couldn't help but grin. Javert still just looked dumbfounded.

"Forgetting already, good Inspector?" Valjean teased, enjoying the amusement Javert's expression gave him. "Age must be catching up with you too."

Javert was still too incoherent to get out more than a very confused, murmured, "What?"

"My reason for risking my life to save yours," Valjean replied, drawing closer once more to Javert so he could look up into Javert's face. A fact that secretly amused both himself and Javert, that the Inspector was so much bigger and taller than the ex-convict, and yet not nearly as strong or powerful. Well, at least he still has to look _up _to see my face, Javert thought, slightly smug.

"W-What does this mean, Valjean?" Javert asked, still desperately trying to grasp the meaning of Valjean's words. Valjean smiled warm-heartedly.

"It means I risked my life because I love you, Javert," Valjean answered. "I have for a long time. And I don't care what anybody else thinks, or what anyone else says. I just want to be with you for the rest of this life I have."

He caught a piece of his own hair between his fingers and grinned good-naturedly.

"Which may not be that long, considering how quickly my hair has turned white," he declared humorously. At this, Javert smirked, but Valjean saw a glint in his eye that he couldn't identify. And simultaneously, Javert dug his hand into his right pocket and pulled out his irons.

Valjean froze in complete horror. No, it couldn't be! For a few seconds, his mind was just a jumbled maze of uncontrollable feelings of betrayal and pain, and unexplainable questions flew by faster than he could comprehend them. Had Javert been lying this whole time? Had this been some cruel, twisted scheme concocted by Javert to make him suffer for all those years he had eluded and outwitted the inspector? Was this a show of the contempt and hatred Javert held for the convict that Valjean had been sure of until only a few minutes?

Then, to his thorough surprise, Javert locked the irons around his own wrists. He looked down upon the astonished man in front of him and smirked.

"I am at your mercy."

It was Javert's mischievous side showing itself at last. Valjean just grinned again and pulled Javert down to the ground on top of him in another passionate kiss.

**Well, now I must give credit where credit is due. Because I know that this idea is a frequently used one for Valjean/Javert pairings, and I don't want to be stealing anyone's ****ideas. So...first, I must say thanks to **Yamx**, who wrote one of the first Les Miserables fanfictions I ever read and which I instantly fell in love with. **Yamx **wrote a story named **_Wounded_**,** **followed by a sequel called **_Healed_. **The day after I read them, I reread them again. XD It wasn't a story in which our two men were in a relationship, but an amazing story of Javert being taken in by ****Valjean, Cosette, and Marius, and becoming part of the family. She is the one that helped me get a great idea of Valjean and Javert's ideals and how they spoke and held ****themselves up as characters. Then there is** Michelle Mercy**, who wrote the first _ever_ Valjean/Javert fanfiction I ever read, called** _Bring Him Home_**, but it makes way more sense if ****you read the first one in the series of three she has written, which I hadn't seen at first, called** _Two More Days_**.** **The handcuff idea is totally her making...hahahaha. Read it, and ****you'll know. :P And of course, she also inspired, along with many other authors of this pairing, the twist on Javert's death at the bridge. I can't remember where, but I read one ****that had Valjean nearly slip off the bridge, and Javert caught him, so I kinda just flipped the situation. Of course, I take artistic creativity with ****that. ;] And last, but not least, **Achilles Maiden!** She is my awesome friend who got me obsessed with Les Miserables in the first place. THANK YOU A BAJILLION ****TIMES JEN! And thank you to ****everyone else who helped inspire me to write this fanfiction. Even my two best friends,** **Kai**(Firah-Von-Nightflame)** and Yuki **(Noboyuki)** who...corrupted me...ugh. **

**Please ****review and tell me what you thought!**


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